Blushing
by Lexxicon
Summary: What could possibly make straightlaced Temperance Brennan blush?


**_Author's note:_** There's no real plot to this, just having a little bit of fun here. This fic is specially written for my "Flutterby Sistah" Jamie, who suggested the idea, and to whom I dedicate the story because it's her birthday! Happy birthday, James!

**_Disclaimer:_** If you recognize it, then it doesn't belong to me.

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"Bones, I'm not asking you to put all your other work aside, I just want this, y'know, kinda lined up for testing."

"It's not part of any of our cases, Booth! I will not be a part of your snape hunt."

"_Snipe_ hunt, Bones. It's snipe," Booth answered irritably. "Snape is a character from Harry Potter."

"I don't watch television, remember?" she said distractedly.

He opened and closed his mouth a couple times, trying to formulate a response. "…It's not a TV show, Bones. It's a wildly popular book series," he finally managed to get out.

"Well obviously I haven't read it," she replied with a shrug.

"You've heard of it, though…right?" he prompted.

She looked at him with her trademark 'what do _you_ think?' look, and said nothing.

Booth shook his head in disbelief. "How do you _function_, Bones?"

She let out a small sigh and turned away from Booth, though not before he could see…

"You're blushing!" he said.

"I am not!" she retorted, turning back to him, her face its normal hue.

"Yes, you were. Just a second ago," he persisted.

"There was absolutely no reason for me to have blushed just then," she rationalized.

"Maybe you were embarassed that you've never heard of Harry Potter," Booth argued, warming to the idea of having made Brennan blush.

"Why should this particular pop culture icon be any different than all the others I don't know?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. But I definitely saw your face turn red."

"Blushing can be caused by any number of factors, not just embarassment!"

"So you admit that you blushed?" he grinned.

"I'm not saying one way or the other," she chose her words carefully, "but biologically speaking, when someone is embarassed, scared, or stressed, the capillaries that carry blood to the skin open up wider, increasing blood flow to the face, neck, and sometimes chest, and shoulders. There's even a disorder called erythrophobia, which causes excessive blushing with sometimes no social cues to trigger it."

"That's all really, very fascinating, Bones. But the fact remains that you don't have enronophobia—"

"_Erythrophobia_," she corrected.

"Yeah, that. And you have no real reason to be scared," he concluded.

"Maybe you're stressing me out, and that's why I blushed," she snapped.

"Ah-ha!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "So you _did_ blush!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Booth. I did. Congratulations on your superior interrogation skills."

"Look, Bones, I didn't mean to embarrass you," he said, taking note of the hurt in her voice. "I guess I've just…never seen you blush, and I was surprised a little." He could feel his own face flushing.

She smiled slowly, triumphantly.

He noticed the expression on her face and said, "Oh, that's nice. Pick on the FBI agent, make him feel like a complete jerk!"

"You know, Booth, some people really _are_ deeply affected when others point out what they consider to be flaws. You should be more considerate of other people's feelings."

"Alright, alright, lesson learned," he surrendered. "One question, though," he added. "Why were you embarrassed about not knowing Harry Potter? You're never embarrassed about the other stuff."

"I wasn't embarassed about _not_ knowing it," she said. "I just thought you'd make fun of me if you knew that I've read all six books." Her shoulders slumped and she blushed slightly again.

He laughed at that. "Bones, you continue to surprise me," he said, shaking his head and chuckling still.

"Just…don't tell anyone I've read them, okay?" she pleaded.

"I won't if you don't tell them that I've read 'em, too," he answered with a wink.

A half smile hovered on her lips. "Deal," she said, holding out her hand.

He shook it, and they resumed their work.

After a few minutes, he leaned over and whispered something in her ear.

She blushed.

_**END**_

Everyone be sure to leave birthday wishes for Jamie with your reviews!


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